Chapter 76: Bird of the Hour

In which the sun rises, and a dove flies.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Headmaster Lionheart."

"The same to you, Miss…?"

"Velvet Scarlatina. Huntress of Beacon."

"Ah, yes, of course. I recall your performance in the Vytal Tournament. You lost to our champion, I think."

"That's right."

The headmaster sounded like a very old man. His voice reminded her of wiping the dust off of chalkboards and then coughing a bunch. It was a trifle weird that a huntsman of his caliber had such a w̶u̶s̶s̶y̶ gentle handshake, but she tried not to hold it against him. Ruby had no idea what he looked like, and she couldn't for the life of her remember any picture she'd ever seen of the guy. In her head, she decided to pretend that he looked like General Ironwood, but with all gray hair, a hunched over back, and a wobbly cane that he leaned on.

"Now, I do believe you requested an audience with me, claiming it to be a matter of some, er, urgency?"

Now, here was the tricky part. Ruby thought Lionheart seemed like a nice guy, but Blake had seemed like a nice gal, and she turned out to be a cereal killer. Maybe she wasn't at risk of having her Pumpkin Pete's killed by this new guy, but she wasn't going to risk it again, not after Bronzewing's warning.

"Sir, I have reason to believe…that the White Fang is targeting your school."

That should do it. Not enough details for him to figure out why she was really here, but close to the truth and too serious to ignore.

"Hmmm, that is most distressing indeed. What led you to this conclusion?"

"Are you familiar with the events surrounding Headmaster Ozpin's untimely passing at Beacon Academy?"

"Yes, quite so. Oz was an old friend of mine. Hearing of his death was quite…disheartening."

"You may not know, but my team was targeted that same night by a White Fang infiltrator. She tried to kill us – me and my teammates and some classmates of ours– and she said that…she was coming here next."

"Is this criminal still alive?"

"No."

"Then, the danger is passed. If she was still alive, that would–"

"Uh, what I actually meant, was that she said her and some other terrorists were gonna hit Haven. I think that the other people are probably still coming."

"I see…"

Darn it. This must be why Yang always said honesty was the best policy, and liars always got it up the butt in the prison showers. Ruby needed to give him a little bit more of the truth, or she might lose her audience altogether. After all, headmasters were probably busy in the middle of the school season.

"Specifically, they said that they were going to be stealing an…artifact?"

Was that what Bronzewing had called it? Ruby thought as hard as she could to remember the word he'd used.

Just before Thrush's death, he spoke of fairy tales and a Mistralian…

A Mistralian…

Darn it, what was the gosh darn thing called?

"An artifact? Odd of the White Fang to focus on theft. Their typical goals have been violence for violence's sake. So unfortunate, that my Faunus brethren would stoop to such lows. I always preach that there is a better way, but alas–"

"NO! I mean, no, it was a relic that they were after!"

The headmaster's breath was caught in his throat. Bullseye!

"You…no, this cannot be…the White Fang knows of…w-what did you say your name was again?"

"V-Velvet Scarlatina?"

"Would you please do me the favor of removing your sunglasses?"

"Oh, these? Yeah, your guys at the city walls gave me them and a cane for free since I'm blind, but I…I kinda lost the cane." Ruby took off her shades.

"By the shattered moon!"

"I'm so sorry about the cane! I swear, I didn't throw it into a river as bait to catch a beaver! I swear!"

"I – oh, Dust – I don't suppose you're staying in Mistral City long, Miss Scarlatina?"

Well, he was certainly interested in her. Ruby had never liked attention, but the tone of his voice invoked new feelings of unhappiness that she'd never experienced before.

"If you'll have me?"

"Certainly, my dear. Perhaps I could even have you stay in Haven."

"Oh, there's no need. I'm staying at a local hunter hostel."

"I'm sure Haven's dormitories are–"

"No, no, I insist. A young huntress like me needs to be independent, you know, stand on her own two feet and all."

"Very well."

The way he said it made Ruby think that it wasn't very well, but she wasn't going to budge on this one. Her baby had been lost somewhere in the woods outside the city. Silver eyes only worked on Grimm, not potentially highly likely traitorous headmasters, so she would have no way to defend herself from a sneak attack if he really was evil.

Lionheart cleared his throat. "Well, I must be getting back to my work, but perhaps we can talk more in the future about the safety of the relic and what the White Fang is planning?"

Ruby nodded.

"At what address are you staying? I only ask so that I may send a messenger when I have more time to speak."

Hecka stranger danger. Not happening, buddy.

Ruby stood up. "There's no need. I'll find you when the time comes."

The headmaster gulped. Ruby hadn't meant to sound so ominous, honest! But she wanted to be the one in control of when they met, or else she'd walk right into a trap.

"It's been a pleasure to meet with you, Mr. Lionheart. Thank you for your time."

"You as well, my dear. I look forward to working closely with you in the future towards the…defense of the relic. A good day to you, Miss Scarlatina."

"Allison! Allison!"

Before the idiot could announce his name to the rest of the school, a small round ball of black fur dropped onto Lionheart's head and covered his gaping mouth with a paw.

"WHAT."

"The Spring maiden! Her! She did! She was! She is!"

"Ughhhh." Azeban rubbed his eyes slowly. "What did the Spring maiden do?"

"She – the girl! The girl who just came into my office! She's the Spring maiden!"

"WHAT? Dammit! Are you sure?"

"She was blind, but with silver eyes. Her name was Velvet Scarlatina. She's staying in a hostel in Mistral. You must find her!"

The old Faunus didn't have to tell Azeban twice. If she had just waltzed into his office, then she had broken free of Adam Taurus and Tyrian Callows' custody. That was no small feat; in fact, it was quite impossible for a blind human with no allies.

Unless that blind human was a maiden.

No. Unless that blind human was a maiden in control of her powers.

Shit.

Azeban was a horseman, the lower Grimm equivalent of a maiden, but he was the stealthy one, not the fighter. Thrace and Kraken did the heavy lifting, Melion was the thinker, and Azeban could find out anything about their enemies. It was such a well-oiled machine that the mechanical arm of the tin soldier in charge of Atlas' military would be jealous.

The downside of their specialization was that Azeban was downright dreadful in a fight. He could pursue the maiden like no other, but if she caught a single whiff of him, he was done like dinner. Following after her would be a fine line between not losing her and not losing to her.

Lionheart had last been pointing to the left down the hallway, so Azeban frantically dragged himself up one of the decorative beams protruding from the pale green walls. At the top, he hurled himself towards a hanging light fixture then took a second or two to stabilize. His retractable claws came out, and he stabbed them into the ceiling. Walking upside down was a tedious process, but it was the safest way to move about without risking some overeager hunter brat crying Grimm and pointing him out to the world at large.

His only advantages were that the girl knew not of her pursuer, so she had no reason to leave in a hurry, and that she was blind. As long as he stayed silent, he stayed alive.

The girl's footsteps were just ahead of him. Azeban closed his eyes and focused on his sense of sound. He wouldn't be able to risk getting close enough to look at her, so he had to rely on his hearing. When it sounded like she was a suitable distance away, he advanced further.

They repeated this game of cat and mouse for a few minutes before the footsteps in front of him stopped, and Azeban heard a door opening. He was tempted to peek around the corner, but it was just too much of a risk to satisfy his curiosity. What she did mattered not; all he needed to do was find out where she was staying in the city. Then, Lionheart and Watts could amass their forces and ambush her at night when she slept.

Azeban must've hung upside down from the ceiling for five minutes before the door's latch clicked, the hinges creaked, and the wooden frame slammed open and shut. The clacking footsteps of heels resumed, but they seemed more relaxed and calmer now. He had no idea why, but that meant she wasn't panicking or hustling, so he was still unknown to her. She walked on, and he followed.

Her path took her all across campus. If he didn't recognize the sound of her shoes, he might've worried he was tracking someone else. It seemed like she'd changed course upon entering that room, but he couldn't worry about that now.

The sound changed from walking forward to stepping up stairs. Azeban briefly wondered why she'd be going to the roof of the building before remembering the intelligence they had on this girl.

She's planning to fly away!

The time for caution would have to wait. Azeban prayed to the Brothers that the girl was truly as blind as a bat and dropped from the ceiling. Racing up the stairs after her, he bound from step to step. Ahead of him was the sound of a door opening.

No, no, no!

Azeban dashed out the door and found himself on an empty rooftop.

He was too late.

"Fucking huntresses!" he swore in rage, slamming his hind paws into the door behind him.

Salem was going to skin him alive for this. Losing track of a child who'd been alive for less than a tenth of the time he had…at least all three Faunus who'd equally failed the queen would share the brunt of his punishment. Still, Lionheart, Callows, and Taurus being punished would do nothing to change the fact that Azeban was in for it when he reported this.

And how does she even know where she's flying? She can't fucking se–

A red milk crate dropped down from above him. Before he had time to react, someone was sitting on top of it. Azeban tried to push up and lift the box off of himself, but the weight of a human was far too much for his spindly arms to heave off.

"Gotcha, ya little stalker!" The intruding figure looked down between his legs and looked Azeban over from head to tail. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!"

Azeban rolled his eyes. "Clever. Love the size 7 women's boots, by the way."

The damnable creature was wearing the maiden's shoes, likely swapped when they'd entered the classroom. She'd figured out she was being followed on sound, and…damn it all! Damn it twice, damn it thrice!

"What even are you, little guy?"

A sound came from the stairwell behind them, and out ran the Spring maiden, dressed in a red hood but wearing a pair of sneakers. "He's a horseman, Sun. It's voice sounds sort of like the one from Forever Fall, but just a bit deeper."

"He looks like a Grimm to me, Ruby."

"It's complicated. I'm still getting used to this stuff myself. Thanks for the save, by the way."

"No probs. Sun's out…"

"…gun's out!" She extended an open-palmed hand, and he energetically high fived it.

The color would have retreated from Azeban's face were he human. If losing the maiden's trail had been bad, this was much, much worse. He'd not only allowed himself to be captured by the young humans, but she somehow knew what he was. Not to mention, she had backup. All Azeban had was the bumbling idiot headmaster, a megalomaniac with no combat skills, and a bribed mercenary army that wasn't going to show up until tomorrow night.

I never thought I'd admit it, but I can't wait for Thrace to get here.

The monkey Faunus rattled their makeshift cage. "So, what're we gonna do with this little guy? Tag him, neuter him, and relocate him to the next forest over?"

The maiden grinned devilishly. "Oh, I've got something better in mind."

The horseman, the huntsman, and the four orphans were quite the odd travelling company. Bronzewing had briefly attempted to ascertain more details about the children's histories, but not one among them answered his queries in complete sentences. Like the Nuckelavee, they only spoke one long, stretched out word at a time. Their drawling method of intercommunication suggested to him that the four of them had not been raised to speak when they were cut off from human society, or perhaps they'd simply forgotten the learned skill of language. When he spoke to them with proper grammar, their eyes grew empty, but still they seemed able to communicate with one another quite capably.

All five of them were seated on the horse's back. A skinny Faunus boy with gills on both sides of his throat pointed upwards. "bbbbbblue?"

"rrrrrreach." The more heavyset boy riding just behind Bronzewing smiled and nodded. "fffffffour."

A girl shook her head. "sssssssame."

"ffffffffffffffffour."

"sssssssssssssame!"

"ffffffffffffffffour!"

For a brief moment, it seemed like a verbal altercation was soon to break out, but the Nuckelavee's humanoid upper half rotated 180 degrees with an unpleasant crack and quelled their dispute.

"ssssssssame"

The girl raised her fist in victory, while the heavyset boy folded his arms in frustration. Bronzewing elected to let the mystery of this dispute lie, choosing to retain his sanity instead. The beast and its charges seemed so in tune with one another that he was beginning to feel like an intruder in private conversations held between close friends.

That was not to say that he refused to pull his weight. His steed had managed to explain to him that he only needed to slay the Grimm that were close to him, so Bronzewing scouted the forests ahead with his sonar and navigated them out of the way of lower Grimm, thus saving them the trouble of being sidetracked. Furthermore, his armor, weapon, and height seemed to be the object of some fascination. He supposed that, to four growing humans and Faunus who'd never seen an adult in recent memory, he was as strange as the horseman was familiar.

Technically, the huntsman thing to do would be to slay this Grimm aberration, liberate the four children, and return them to their rightful place in human society. Of course, he wasn't going to do that – the huntsman thing to do was neither the right nor the smart thing to do. These children were clearly content with their lot in life, and he made no move to disrupt it.

Thrush had charged in headfirst (at Bronzewing's urgings – he'd never forget that) like a brave huntsman, and he'd paid the price. Arc and Nikos had followed the headmaster's orders faithfully like an obedient huntsman and huntress, and they were no more. All three had died at the hands of humans, not Grimm. Both apex predators of Remnant had equal capacity to become monsters. Perhaps that old wives' tale from the tavern had a moral or two after all.

When his thoughts strayed to Team Adventure, he did not feel the expected depression. The memories saddened him, but they did not serve to weaken his spirit. Rather, the opposite was true. Arc, Nikos, and Thrush – as long as Bronzewing fought on in their names and remained true to the legacy of their morals, Team Adventure was not truly dead.

It lives on in me, forevermore and eternally.

Investigating Fall had been Team Adventure's first mission, and seeing it through would be its last. He, the sole survivor, would bring those responsible – Lionheart and any others – to justice. This he vowed.

And then, when his comrades were avenged and their spirits at peace, he would finally accept their loss and move forward. They'd be happy to see him on a new team; he just knew it. Team Rainbow was always a sister team to them, and Nikos had been best friends with Rose. He would not be replacing his teammates but adding new friends to old. Forever would he be a member of Team Adventure, but this did not preclude him from being an inaugural member of Team Roadway. He would be a man of two teams, two legacies.

Provided, of course, that he survived this ordeal.

The twin heads of the Nuckelavee's snorted out hot breath, and it stopped.

"aaaaaaaahead"

Bronzewing extended his semblances as far forward as he could, but there were no Grimm in sight. The odd squirrel or sparrow, sure, but nothing that should warrant a full halt.

"aaaaaaaahead"

"There's nothing–"

It was in and out of his semblance's range with such alarming speed that he fell off the horse and landed in an undignified heap on the ground. Bronzewing struggled to collect himself and raised his sword, falling into formation to defend the children.

"What…?"

"hhhhhhorseman"

"The one who ordered you to Mistral? The raccoon?"

"nnnnnnnnnot aaaaaaazeban"

"nnnnnnnnnew"

"uuuuuuuunknown"

With a horseman by his side, he had felt confident that they could defeat any threat that met them on the battlefield, but another one of the Nuckelavee's kind, particularly a new one, was not to be trifled with. Its powers were unknown, though that speed reminded him of the aberrant Beowolf in the Emerald Forest.

The same shape moved through the edge of his range, still at full pelt, but this time on the opposite side of the radius he could perceive. Bronzewing rotated to face it, but it moved out just as rapidly. The Nuckelavee adjusted itself to look in the same direction.

"ssssssscared? hhhhhhhiding?"

"No. It's testing my limits and pushing the boundaries to see how I react." Bronzewing sheathed his sword and climbed back onto the steed. "This is how predators hunt prey. Our energy would be better spent fleeing. Let us fly, now!"

He gripped the children tightly as the Nuckelavee broke into a tantivy. Despite having the body of a horse, it was not moving as quickly as their undesired guest. As fast as the breakneck gallop carried them, outrunning the enemy was a forlorn undertaking.

But I am here. Perhaps the horsemen are matched, and my presence can turn the tide.

The second horseman appeared behind them, closing the distance rapidly. Bronzewing aimed Hallshott and fired with deadly accuracy. He was rewarded with the unmistakable sound of crackling aura, as well as a wroth hiss. The enemy broke off to the side and fled to the edge of his range.

"It's going to head us off! We need to–"

"wwwwwwwalls"

"Walls? What walls?"

"mmmmmmistral"

The city! They could lose it in the city! Bronzewing couldn't perceive it, but it had to be close if it was within visible range.

…but the Nuckelavee was forbidden from carrying them into Mistral itself.

"What about you?"

"hhhhhhhhhorseman hhhhhhhhhunting ffffffffffriends nnnnnnnnot mmmmmmme"

It was right. Besides, if the epic Horsemanbowl did go down, four children and one amateur huntsman would most likely just serve to get in the way.

With no target to aim at, Bronzewing had little choice but to sheath his sword. Grabbing the four children to him, two in each arm, he focused all his remaining aura to shield his body. As his semblance faded to conserve the limited power of the soul, he caught a final glimpse of the city walls.

He was truly blind now, but it was out of his hands. He'd have to place his trust in a Grimm horseman and hope for the best.

The dreadful hissing resumed, ahead of them and to the right. They so close to the city walls, but the new horseman was even closer. Just a little farther…

The Nuckelavee bucked, and Bronzewing was thrown into the air with the children in tow.

Beneath them came bellicose hissing and the warlike clomp of hooves, followed by an outraged whinny, but he could offer no help to his unlikely ally beyond guarding the quartet of youths entrusted to him. Perhaps the Nuckelavee would return to claim them litter, or perhaps his final resting place was to be just outside the city walls. Bronzewing would have no way to know.

Bronzewing flared his aura as they experienced a brief moment of tranquil peace at the zenith of their flight. Then, the ground came hurtling towards them. A brief flash of his semblance revealed an awning, but it was out of their path by two meters. With all his might, he pushed the children towards where it should be.

His aura broke when the ground reached him. Wearing armor had done nothing to minimize the painful impact; in fact, it probably exacerbated the pain. Bronzewing groaned and tried to stand, but the touchdown force was too great.

"C-Children, have you sustained any injuries? Please make yourselves known."

There was no response. Bronzewing's heart skipped a beat before remembering that the children never responded when prompted with such unnecessarily verbose phrasing.

How would the Nuckelavee ask them to sound off?

"Uh…fffffffriends?" he tried, drawing out the F overlong.

"ffffffffffun!" came an excited chirp.

"Are you harmed…rather, ssssssafe?" Bronzewing asked.

"yyyyyyes."

"aaaaaaaall ssssssafe."

"aaaaaaagain!"

Bronzewing breathed a sigh of relief. He was within the boundaries of Mistral at long last. When his aura returned, he could find someone to attend to the four of them while he sought out Rose. After that…

I'd best not get ahead of myself.

"Wowee! What a show, huntsman! Are you folks alright?"

Bronzewing's armor and rare weapon had easily identified this passerby to his profession, which was most likely to his benefit in this instance. Hunters were typically credible and likely given a lot of leeway with the law…leeway he'd need after flying into the city.

"I'm alive, as are my…cousins. We were playing outside the city walls, and I launched them…with my semblance."

Dishonesty tended to backfire, but honesty regarding mythical Grimm that spoke would likely land him in far greater trouble.

"Those lil' whippersnappers? Oh, they're just so cuuuuute! I could eat them right up! Say, fella, you ain't lookin' too good."

"I – argh – can't stand. Probably a broken bone from the fall."

"Need a hand?"

He raised up his arm, and the woman took it, lifting up with a single heave.

"Prosperity, madam. I am Dove Bronzewing." He bowed, wincing at the pain.

"Nice ta meetcha, Mistuh Dove. The name's Lil' Miss. Welcome to Mistral!"

Next Chapter: A Rabbit among Plagiarism – Who knows what I'm going to steal next…maybe Professor Arc?

Omake

Ruby and Bronzewing: TEAM ROADWAY!

Weiss and Penny: TEAM RHAPSODY!

Ruby: There can be only one. To the death!

Author's Notes

So, Dove Bronzewing is now in Mistral, but he and his pack of babies are in the vile clutches of that side character who eats cheese or something. Egad!

Ruby may not have been expecting NO⅄ƆOᴚԀ ƎH⊥ himself, but she knew she was likely to be followed, so she took some countermeasures in advance to ensure her safety. As promised, all character will return, and here we have the one, the only – monke!

Also, you may recall that I promised in the pre-story author's notes in chapter 67 that I literally told you this was going to happen. It's simple math:

Sun Wukong, cosplaying as Ruby + Milk crate, held down by Sun's girthy form = Procyon attained.

You didn't listen, and that's on you. Now, the only question is whether or not all the other weird stuff I said then is or isn't going to happen.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!